"You should see it as the first winter test day," says Verstappen after running Ricciardo close and beating the Ferraris in qualifying
Saturday 14 May 2016 17:21, UK
Max Verstappen admitted he surprised himself with his stirring qualifying debut for Red Bull in Spain - suggesting he hasn't even yet found the limit of his new car.
Verstappen's early steps in F1 since the beginning of 2015 have been surrounded by plenty of fanfare and the 18-year-old threatened to top all that had gone before as he led new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo until the final part of qualifying, with Red Bull unexpectedly proving Mercedes' closest challengers at Barcelona.
Although three-time race winner Ricciardo won the battle for third in Q3 with a stunning late lap of his own, Verstappen still stayed ahead of the Ferraris for a career-best fourth on the grid.
Having never driven the RB12 before Friday practice following his sudden promotion from Toro Rosso last week, the Dutchman said: "To be honest, I didn't know what to expect. But it was very positive - that's for sure.
"I never thought about that because for me qualifying was just about enjoying it and getting the feeling with the car. It worked fine.
Asked what he had expected, Verstappen replied: "I expected completely nothing. I was just thinking about myself jumping in the car and from there onwards see what happens."
Ricciardo eventually out-qualified him by 0.4 seconds, but Verstappen says his pace so far in the car is "clearly not the limit as "I still don't know where the limit is".
Qualy report: Lewis on pole, as Bulls stun Ferrari
"You should see it as the first winter test day because it's a completely different car," he added. "You always make a lot of progress [from there]."
Asked if his team-mate's late surge to third had left him even slightly frustrated, Verstappen replied: "Absolutely not, I was very pleased with my first qualifying. I was enjoying it a lot and I think we both pushed each other, which is very good for the team."
With Red Bull's 2016 renaissance kicking up a gear on Saturday, the team's second-row lockout makes them favourites to at least claim the final podium finish behind Mercedes in Sunday's race.
At 18 years old, Verstappen - whose best F1 result is fourth place so far - would replace Red Bull predecessor Sebastian Vettel as the sport's youngest-ever podium finisher were he to end up in the top three on Sunday. The German was 21 when he set the record in 2008.
However, despite potentially being on the brink of history, Verstappen is keeping his feet on the ground.
"I never start dreaming," he said. "I just focus. [The race] is all about a clean start, a clean first lap and from there hopefully we have a good pace."
Watch the Spanish GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11.30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
